Illustration Friday: “Hybrid”

I actually started this drawing for I.F.’s theme “Robot”, but I missed the boat.  I think it works for both themes.  Freshly inked, here it is:

Illustration Friday: “Swim”

Scarlet dreams of scarlet seas she finds on the sidewalk during an episode.  Satin protects her the way Satan couldn’t.  

Illustration Friday: “Eye Glasses”

Sweet jayzus, it’s been a long time since my eyes graced the theme for Illustration Friday. This week the topic is “Eye Glasses”.  I feel that this illustration needs a story, so I’m going to tell you one.

When I was a little It, I developed a passionate madness for a gorgeous, gorgeous man loved by billions and billions of other people.  He was the ideal man for me.  A perfect face, perfect profile, intelligent, funny, glorious nose and bottom lip.  Who was he?  You guessed it, it was Rick Moranis!  Rick Moranis is still one of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen so it only made sense to attempt to sketch him for this week’s Illustration Friday theme. When I think of glasses, I think of the beautiful Rick Moranis.  And Drew Carey.  Drew Carey was another massive crush of mine that (also) still hasn’t fully gone away.

This, though…this is about Rick Moranis.  I want to say (want) that the sketch looks kind of like him, but that might be the Riesling talking.  I absolutely can not draw real things – only the craziness in my brains.  Forgive me!  Also forgive me for the extra lines.  Since I’m not fully unpacked, I have no erasers!!  This makes as much sense to you as it does to me…unless it makes sense to you, then…no.  No erasers!  Gah!

Illustration Friday: “Explore”

I’ve been ill and I’ve done nothing but lie around, reading Pet Sematary and popping lozenges. SO, I decided to use an older drawing/painting for Illustration Friday’s word, which is “Explore”. I thought this painting (A Head, 2012) was suitable!

Illustration Friday: Refresh

With one day left, I jumped on it.  This made me miss my dojo loaches.

Illustration Friday: Heights

When I was younger, I had to wear a Milwaukee brace. The name sounds fun because “Milwaukee” is involved in a lot of neat things, including beer, but this was not fun. Though it did a variety of things to me, the relevant-to-this-post thing is that it did not allow me to look down. It held my head up and forward and it took a lot of getting used to. With each step, I felt like I was going to fall off the edge of whatever I was standing on, even if what I was standing on had no edges – didn’t matter. Thus, I became afraid of heights. Walking on ground was frightening enough…walking on anything elevated was a nightmare. Thankfully, the elementary school I attended was kind enough to give me a key to the elevator so I could completely avoid the stairs.

So here is my translation of Illustration Friday’s “Heights”:

The idea of 365 days…

Obviously NOT my idea… I don’t know how many days I would have shoved into one year if I was in charge of that project, but I wasn’t. Maybe 5? Be really REALLY old and still look totally kick-ass? Yes, thank you.

Moving on to more sensible things, the idea of doing something everyday of the year – 365 days – intrigues me and makes me slightly ill. I’m not talking about showering or sleeping or eating the food. I mean doing what I have seen so many others accomplish – make a blog post every.single.day. Yikes.

I admire those that can do it. I even admire those that try. I like the idea of doing it, but, as I am with many things, the fear of failing is so, so great. So I haven’t even attempted. I think I might, though. I would like to try.

Aside from my fear and the many ways it manifests itself (and there are many), my other problem with not always accomplishing things is my horrible memory. If I connect a day of the week with a topic, then I think my chances of actually succeeding at posting something every day are a bit better than if I just tried to wing it.

This is why I like Illustration Friday. It’s on a Friday! So on Fridays, I get to have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to illustrate (even though, as you know, I don’t always actually do that…). Since I’m slightly more determined than not to give this a go, I have Friday checked off. Now I just need Monday – Thursday and then Saturday and Sunday.

I’ve noticed that people that post every day of the year sometimes don’t even write anything. They just slap a picture up on their blog…I like that idea! I don’t like it, though, if it doesn’t make sense. I suppose that would be okay, though, yeah? Nonsense is sometimes the best sense. Certainly can be the most fun!

Tonight I am going to figure out themes/topics for the rest of the days of the week and I’m making tomorrow (Saturday 24th of March) my start day. I might not make it to 365 days, but I am going to try to do one whole week! *weak laugh * HA! My air just sputtered out of my balloon, but that’s okay because I can use my airless balloon as a slingshot. Yes.

Tell me if you have ideas for the other days of the week! Like…Macabre Monday (that actually appeals to me now that I typed it out…) or something easy to remember!

Illustration Friday: “Shades”

As soon as I saw the word for the week, my mind took a trip backwards to around early 2000. I was living in Pittsburgh at the time and I frequented this coffeehouse called “The Beehive” on East Carson. A door or so down from the Beehive was a store called “Slackers” and in front of that store and the Beehive is where Shades hung out. Shades was this tallish, peach-skinned, lanky kid (probably around my age, but still “kid”) who had a buzz cut, wore black t-shirts and a black trench coat. And…shades. I wanted to draw him but because I don’t remember every feature of his face, I felt I couldn’t do it. I’m certain that, 12 years later, my mind has filled in his features with various features of the many, many people I’ve met since. Still, he was an interesting cat.

I decided to do a self portrait with a favorite pair of shades. They look awful on me, unless I’m playing with ways to wear them rather than wearing them as they were intended to be worn (my face shape is just…odd).

When drawing the drawing on the lenses of the drawing (dig?) I sorta felt like the Matrix! Yes? Yes.

Illustration Friday: Fluid

Woo! Since I attempted (several times) to draw something for last week’s “Popularity” theme and couldn’t get it right, I was determined to draw something this week. The word was “Fluid”. I yanked this idea out of the hoard in my brain.

Did drawing this make me crazy, frustrated, and want to set it on fire, you ask? Why yes, yes it did. It has been hurled into the “Doodle File” for misbehaving…

Illustration Friday: “Suspense”

Child + visually impaired grandma + clippers = SUSPENSE!